Pleasing first-half result for the MCH Group
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Income in excess of CHF 200 million and profits of CHF 15.5 million in the first half of 2009 * Market position of the internationally leading events strengthened * Difficult forecast for the second half of 2009The MCH Group can look back on a pleasing first half of 2009 with aresult that is in line with the expectations. The group'sconsolidated income over the reporting period from 1 January to 30June 2009 totalled CHF 200.9 million (same period previous year: CHF236.2 million). Consolidated first-half profits are CHF 15.5 million(previous year CHF 30.3 million).The balance-sheet structure as per 30 June 2009 shows a balance-sheettotal of CHF 448.7 million (30 June 2008: CHF 460.4 million), withcurrent assets of CHF 73.1 million (CHF 82.1 million) and fixedassets of CHF 375.6 million (CHF 378.3 million) on the assets side.The liabilities side accordingly shows outside capital of CHF 236.5million (CHF 248.0 million) and group equity of CHF 212.2 million(CHF 212.4 million).Impact of exhibition rotas and the economic climateThe fall in the figures compared with the previous year is due,firstly, to a less tightly-packed event schedule, on account of theindividual exhibition rotas (no Hilsa, plus Swissbau shifted to theeven years) and, secondly, to the global economic crisis, which isnaturally making itself felt in the exhibition and event businesstoo. The recessive economic setting has affected the MCH Group'sindividual business fields at a differing pace and to differingextents:* MCH Exhibitions: the group's own exhibitions registered a CHF 17.5 million (10%) drop in income in the first half of 2009 by comparison to the previous year. Roughly half of this is attributable to the fewer exhibitions that were due to be held, while the other half can be attributed to the difficult economic climate. Gratifyingly, the two leading international events of BASELWORLD and Art Basel proved to be highly successful, despite the particularly difficult setting in which they were held, and have further strengthened their market position.* MCH Infrastructure: a CHF 6.6 million drop in income resulted for rental business during the period under review, by comparison to this same period the previous year, due to the fact that there was no equivalent to EURO 08. Apart from this, the earnings situation during the first half has remained stable in relation to the previous year.* MCH Event Services: the crisis is having its most direct and severe impact on companies in the fields of event management, stand construction and technical services for events. First-half income in this business field fell by CHF 12.4 million compared with the previous year, to stand at CHF 48.2 million (20.5%), with part of this difference similarly being due to EURO 08. In terms of the individual sectors, the crisis in the automotive industry, in particular, has had negative consequences for the service business.Strengthened market position"In view of the global economic crisis and the pronounced dependenceof the event marketing business on the prevailing economicconditions, the MCH Group has performed well during the first half of2009", says René Kamm, CEO of the MCH Group. The drop in income andprofits compared with the record years has been painful but we cancope with this given the strengthened market position.The MCH Group is optimally configured in strategic and operativeterms, stresses René Kamm. "We have a strong product portfolio and aunique service network with a potential that is far from having beenexhausted. We will be continuing to implement our successfulstrategy, just as we have been doing over the first six months of theyear, which has seen the integration of Rufener events Ltd and thedeclaration of intent regarding the integration of BeaulieuExploitation SA in Lausanne."Difficult forecast for the second six monthsThe second six months are always weaker than the first half onaccount of the big international exhibitions that are held in thefirst half, and because no exhibitions take place in the summermonths. This makes it impossible to extrapolate the half-year resultson a linear basis and draw conclusions regarding the expected annualresult. The second half of 2009 can also not yet be expected toproduce an economic upturn which would have positive repercussions onthe MCH Group's business activities. In addition, the threatened flupandemic could bring the danger of a short-term drop in exhibitor andvisitor numbers. In view of the difficult economic conditions, theMCH Group is expecting annual profits in the second half that will bebelow the first-half result.Media contactMCH Group Ltd.Corporate CommunicationsChristian Jecker+41 58 206 22 52christian.jecker(at)mch-group.comwww.mch-group.comThe press release can be downloaded from the following link:http://hugin.info/134007/R/1338391/319285.pdf --- End of Message ---MCH Group AG Basel WKN: 553176; ISIN: CH0010358494; Index: SPI, SPIEX, SSCI;Listed: SWX Local Caps in SIX Swiss Exchange;
Datum: 01.09.2009 - 07:15 Uhr
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